Outdoor Air Pollution Killed 1.2 Million in China in 2010

Shanghai in January

Outdoor air pollution contributed to 1.2 million premature deaths in China in 2010, nearly 40 percent of the global total, according to the 2010 Global Burden of Disease Study, which was published in December. What the researchers called “ambient particulate matter pollution” was the fourth-leading risk factor for deaths in China in 2010, behind dietary risks, high blood pressure and smoking.

Air pollution ranked seventh on the worldwide list of risk factors, contributing to 3.2 million deaths in 2010.

Interestingly, a James Hansen report shows that nuclear power plants prevented 1.8 million deaths because of its emission free operation.
      

By comparison with China, India, which also has densely populated cities grappling with similar levels of pollution, had 620,000 premature deaths in 2010 because of outdoor air pollution, the study found. 

      

The study was led by an institute at the University of Washington and several partner universities and institutions, including the World Health Organization.

      

Calculations of premature deaths because of outdoor air pollution are politically threatening in the eyes of some. (NYT, 4/2/2013)